Identifying and controlling remote user equipment on network side

ABSTRACT

A method for identifying and controlling remote user equipment on a network side includes: receiving, by a session management device, an identifier of a remote user equipment, and generating, based on the identifier, a policy related to the remote user equipment, where the policy includes the identifier of the remote user equipment; sending the policy to a user plane function device; and identifying, by the user plane function device, a packet of the remote user equipment based on the policy, and implementing policy control on the remote user equipment based on the policy. According to the method, the network side can be compatible with service access of the remote user equipment and can perform service management and policy control on the remote user equipment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/672,246, filed on Nov. 1, 2019, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2018/097769, filed on Jul. 31, 2018,which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201710697315.X,filed on Aug. 15, 2017. All the aforementioned patent applications arehereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of communications technologies,and in particular, to a method for identifying and controlling a remoteuser equipment on a network side.

BACKGROUND

To meet a challenge of wireless broadband technologies and maintain aleading advantage of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)network, the 3GPP standard organization developed a next generationmobile communications network architecture, namely, a fifth generation(5G) network architecture, at the end of 2016. The architecture not onlysupports wireless technologies, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and 5Gradio access network (RAN), defined by the 3GPP standard group, inaccessing a core network (CN), but also supports a non-3GPP accesstechnology in accessing a core network by using a non-3GPP interworkingfunction (N3IWF) or a next generation packet data gateway (NGPDG).

Core network functions are classified into a user plane function (UPF)and a control plane function (CPF). The user plane function isresponsible for packet forwarding, quality of service (QoS) control,charging information statistics, and the like. The control planefunction is responsible for user registration and authentication,mobility management, delivery of a packet forwarding policy and a QoScontrol policy to the user plane function (UPF), and the like.

Subsequently, in addition to a user equipment (UE) of a mobile operator,the 5G core network (5G CN) needs to support a third-party userequipment, also referred to as a remote user equipment, such as awearable user equipment, a fixed-line terminal device, a television(TV), and a personal computer (PC). The remote user equipment may notsupport a subscriber identification module (SIM) card of the mobileoperator. A network side cannot detect remote user equipment that has noSIM card, failing to support 5G CN in management and control of theremote user equipment.

SUMMARY

In view of this, an embodiment of this application provides a method foridentifying and controlling a remote user equipment on a network side.

According to a first aspect, a method for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side is provided, including:receiving, by a session management device, an identifier of a remoteuser equipment; generating, based on the identifier of the remote userequipment, a policy related to the remote user equipment, where thepolicy includes the identifier of the remote user equipment; anddelivering the generated policy to a user plane function, where thepolicy is used by the user plane function to perform service control onthe remote user equipment. According to the method, a network sidedevice can identify and control the remote user equipment, improvingcompatibility of the network side device.

Optionally, the receiving, by a session management device, an identifierof a remote user equipment is performed in a control plane manner or auser plane manner. In the control plane manner, the session managementdevice receives a session message or a registration message from a relayuser equipment, where the session message or the registration messageincludes the identifier of the remote user equipment.

In the user plane manner, the session management device receives aninterface message from the UPF, where the interface message includes theidentifier of the remote user equipment. Specifically, the interfacemessage may be an N4 interface message.

Optionally, the policy includes a packet probing parameter, where thepacket probing parameter includes the identifier of the remote userequipment, and the packet probing parameter is used to match a userplane packet that is from the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the method further includes: receiving, by the sessionmanagement device, at least one of a circuit identifier of the remoteuser equipment, a device type of the remote user equipment, and anassociation identifier of the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the receiving, by the session management device, at leastone of a circuit identifier of the remote user equipment, a device typeof the remote user equipment, and an association identifier of theremote user equipment includes:

receiving, by the session management device, a session message or aregistration message sent by a relay user equipment, where the sessionmessage or the registration message includes at least one of theassociation identifier of the remote user equipment, the circuitidentifier, and the device type; or

receiving, by the session management device, a session message sent by amobility management function (e.g., an access and mobility managementfunction (AMF)), where the session message includes at least one of theassociation identifier of the remote user equipment, the circuitidentifier, and the device type, and specifically, the session messagemay be an N11 interface message; or

receiving, by the session management device, an interface message sentby the UPF, where the interface message includes at least one of theassociation identifier of the remote user equipment, the circuitidentifier, and the device type, and specifically, the interface messagemay be an N4 interface message. The circuit identifier (CID) is used toidentify user access circuit information, such as a frame, a slot, and aport. An operator identifies a user and performs access control based onthe circuit identifier. The association identifier of the remote userequipment is used to associate a plurality of different identifiers ofthe remote user equipment, and indicates that the plurality of differentidentifiers of the remote user equipment refer to same remote userequipment.

Optionally, the policy further includes at least one of the following:

an IP address assigned by the session management device to the remoteuser equipment, where the IP address is used to instruct the UPF toreplace the identifier of the remote user equipment in a matched packetwith the IP address;

a user packet header update instruction, used to instruct the UPF todelete a specific packet header from the matched packet or add aspecific packet header to the matched packet; and

a user equipment IP address assignment instruction, used to instruct theUPF to assign an IP address to the remote user equipment and replace theidentifier of the remote user equipment in the matched packet with theIP address of the remote user equipment that is assigned by the UPF.

The specific packet header removed from a matched packet and/or thespecific packet header inserted into a matched packet may comprise atleast one of the following headers: an Ethernet header, a Point-to-PointProtocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) header, a user datagram protocol (UDP)header, an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and a Generic RoutingEncapsulation (GRE) header.

According to a second aspect, a method for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side is provided, including:

receiving, by a session management device, an identifier of a remoteuser equipment;

generating, by the session management device based on the identifier ofthe remote user equipment, a policy related to the remote userequipment, where the policy includes the identifier of the remote userequipment;

sending, by the session management device, the policy to a user planefunction (UPF), where the policy is used by the UPF to perform servicecontrol on the remote user equipment;

receiving, by the UPF, a packet from the remote user equipment, wherethe packet includes the identifier of the remote user equipment; and

performing, by the user plane function based on the policy, servicecontrol on the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the identifier of the remote user equipment is an IPv6interface ID, the packet probing parameter includes the IPv6 interfaceID, and the identifying, by the UPF based on the packet probingparameter and on the identifier of the remote user equipment in thepacket, the packet sent by the remote user equipment includes: matching,by the UPF, the IPv6 interface ID in the packet probing parameter with asource IP address in an IP header of the packet, to identify the packetsent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the packet probing parameter includes the port number, andthe identifying, by the UPF based on the packet probing parameter and onthe identifier of the remote user equipment in the packet, the packetsent by the remote user equipment includes: matching, by the UPF, theport number in the packet probing parameter with a port number in atransport layer of the packet, to identify the packet sent by the remoteuser equipment.

Optionally, the identifier of the remote user equipment is a MediaAccess Control (MAC) address, the packet probing parameter includes theMAC address, and the identifying, by the UPF based on the packet probingparameter and on the identifier of the remote user equipment in thepacket, the packet sent by the remote user equipment includes:

matching, by the UPF, the MAC address in the packet probing parameterwith an L2 MAC address in the packet, to identify the packet sent by theremote user equipment.

According to a third aspect, a session management device is provided,including a transceiver interface, a processor, and a memory, where thememory stores a computer program executable by the processor, thecomputer program includes computer readable instructions, and thereadable instructions include:

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive anidentifier of a remote user equipment;

an instruction used to enable the processor to generate, based on theidentifier of the remote user equipment, a policy related to the remoteuser equipment, where the policy includes the identifier of the remoteuser; and

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to send thepolicy to a user plane function, where the policy is used by the UPF toperform service control on the remote user equipment.

According to a fourth aspect, a user plane function device is provided,including a transceiver interface, a processor, and a memory, where thememory stores a computer program executable by the processor, thecomputer program includes computer readable instructions, and thereadable instructions include:

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive apolicy that is related to remote user equipment and that is sent by asession management device, where the policy includes an identifier ofthe remote user equipment;

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive apacket from the remote user equipment, where the packet includes adevice identifier of the remote user equipment; and

an instruction used to enable the processor to perform, based on thepolicy, service control on the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

According to a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided, including: atransceiver, configured to receive a network access request from aremote user equipment; and a processor, configured to assign anidentifier to the remote user equipment, where the transceiver isfurther configured to report, to a network side device, the identifierassigned by the processor to the remote user equipment, where theidentifier of the remote user equipment is used by the network sidedevice to perform service control on the remote user equipment.

Optionally, that the transceiver reports, to a network side device, theidentifier assigned by the processor to the remote user equipmentincludes: sending, by the transceiver, a session message or aregistration message to the network side device, where the sessionmessage or the registration message includes the identifier of theremote user equipment.

Optionally, the transceiver further receives a packet sent by the remoteuser equipment, and after the processor encapsulates the identifier ofthe remote user equipment into the packet, the transceiver sends, to thenetwork side device, the packet in which the identifier of the remoteuser equipment is encapsulated.

According to a sixth aspect, a session management device is provided.The session management device has a function of implementing the sessionmanagement device in the method according to the first aspect or themethod according to the second aspect. The function may be implementedby using hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executingcorresponding software. The hardware or the software includes one ormore modules (units) corresponding to the function.

According to a seventh aspect, a user plane function device is provided.The user plane function device has a function of implementing the userplane function device in the method according to the second aspect. Thefunction may be implemented by using hardware, or may be implemented byhardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or the softwareincludes one or more modules (units) corresponding to the function.

According to an eighth aspect, a communications system is provided,including the foregoing session management device and user planefunction device.

According to a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided,including executable program code, where the program code includes aninstruction. When a processor executes the instruction, the instructionenables a session management device to perform the method forcontrolling a remote user equipment according to the foregoing aspects.

According to a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided,including executable program code, where the program code includes aninstruction. When a processor executes the instruction, the instructionenables a user plane function device to perform the method forcontrolling a remote user equipment according to the foregoing aspects.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium configured to store a computersoftware instruction used by the foregoing session management device,where the computer software instruction includes a program designed toperform the foregoing aspects.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium configured to store a computersoftware instruction used by the foregoing user plane function device,where the computer software instruction includes a program designed toperform the foregoing aspects.

According to a thirteenth aspect, a chip system is provided. The chipsystem includes a processor configured to support the foregoingapparatus, session management device, and user plane function device inimplementing the related functions in the foregoing aspects, forexample, receiving an identifier of a remote user equipment, generatinga policy of related to the remote user equipment based on theidentifier, and delivering the policy to the user plane function device.In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and thememory is configured to store a program instruction and data that arenecessary for a communications device. The chip system may include achip, or may include a chip and another discrete device.

According to the foregoing aspects, the network side can be compatiblewith service access of the remote user equipment and can perform servicemanagement and policy control on the remote user equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an architectural diagram of a system to which an embodimentof this application is applied;

FIG. 1B is an example of an architectural diagram of a system accordingto an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of interactions for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a protocol layer according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of interactions for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side according to another embodimentof this application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of interactions for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side according to still anotherembodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a network side deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment accordingto an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a session management deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a user plane function deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following describes technical solutions in embodiments of thisapplication with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is an architectural diagram of a system to which an embodimentof this application is applied. As shown in FIG. 1A, the system includesa session management device 10 and a user plane function device 20. Thesession management device 10 is responsible for functions such assession establishment, location management, service control, and policygeneration and delivery. The user plane function device 20 isresponsible for functions such as packet forwarding and policyexecution.

Specifically, the session management device 10 is configured to: receivean identifier of a remote user equipment; generate, based on theidentifier of the remote user equipment, a policy related to the remoteuser equipment, where the policy includes the identifier of the remoteuser equipment; and deliver the generated policy to a user planefunction device, where the policy is used by the user plane functiondevice to perform service control on the remote user equipment.

The user plane function device 20 is configured to receive a packet fromthe remote user equipment, and is further configured to receive thepolicy that is related to the remote user equipment and that isdelivered by the session management device, and perform, based on thepolicy, service control on the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the session management device and the user plane functiondevice in FIG. 1A may be implemented by one physical device, or may beimplemented by a plurality of physical devices, or may be a logicalfunction module in a physical device. This is not specifically limitedin this embodiment of this application.

The session management device and the user plane function device in FIG.1A respectively correspond to a session management function (SMF) and aUPF in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 1B is an architectural diagram of another system to which anembodiment of this application is applied. The system architecture maybe a specific implementation example of FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1B,the system includes: remote user equipments (Remote UEs) 101 a, remoteUEs 101 b, a relay user equipment (Relay UE) 102 a, and a relay UE 102b, where the relay UE 102 a is a wireless user equipment, and may accessa core network (CN) by using a radio access network (RAN) 103. The relayUE 102 a may further communicate with an AMF 104 through an N1interface. The relay UE 102 b may access the CN by using a fixed accessnetwork (Fixed AN) 105. The relay UE 102 b may also communicate with theAMF 104 through an N1 interface. The fixed access network 105 includesan access network (AN) 1051 and an access gateway function (AGF) 1052.The AGF 1052 communicates with a UPF 106 through an N3 interface.

The CN is divided into a control plane function (CPF) and the user planefunction (UPF) 106. The user plane function 106 is responsible forpacket forwarding, QoS control, charging information statistics, and thelike. The UPF 106 may communicate with an SMF 105 through an N4interface, and may further communicate with a data network (DN) 107through an N6 interface.

The control plane function is responsible for user registration andauthentication, mobility management, and delivery of a packet forwardingpolicy, a QoS control policy, and the like to the UPF 106. The controlplane function includes the access and mobility management function(AMF) 104 and the session management function (SMF) 105. Specifically,the AMF 104 is responsible for a registration procedure during useraccess and location management during movement of a user. The SMF 105 isresponsible for establishing a corresponding session connection on anetwork side when a user initiates a service, to provide a specificservice for the user. The SMF 105 further delivers the packet forwardingpolicy, a QoS policy, and the like to the UPF 106 through the N4interface.

The system further includes a data network (DN) 107 that provides aservice for user equipment, for example, provides a mobile operatorservice, an Internet service, or a third-party service. A unifiedsubscriber data management (UDM) 108 is configured to store subscriptiondata of the user equipment. An authentication server function (AUSF) 109is responsible for authenticating the user equipment to determinelegality of the user equipment. A policy control function (PCF) 110 isconfigured to deliver a service-related policy to the AMF 104 or the SMF105.

A name of an interface between network elements in FIG. 1B is merely anexample. In a specific implementation, the interface may have anothername. This is not specifically limited in this embodiment of thisapplication.

It should be noted that the remote user equipment, the relay userequipment, the AMF, the SMF, the UDSF, the AUSF, the UDM, the UPF, orthe like in FIG. 1B are merely names, and the names do not constituteany limitation as to the devices. In a 5G network or another futurenetwork, the remote user equipment, the relay user equipment, the AMF,the SMF, the AUSF, the UDM, the UPF, or a corresponding network elementor entity may have different names. This is not specifically limited inthis embodiment of this application. For example, the UDM may bealternatively replaced with a home subscriber server (HSS), a usersubscription database (USD), or the like. This is described collectivelyherein and details are not repeated again below.

The following further describes embodiments of the present applicationby using an example in which a remote user equipment accesses a corenetwork by using a fixed network. In another network scenario, theaccess gateway function (AGF) may be replaced with a non-3GPPinterworking function (N3IWF) or a RAN.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of interactions for identifying and controlling aremote user equipment on a network side according to an embodiment ofthis application. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the followingsteps.

201. A relay UE detects that a remote UE gets online, and establishes aconnection between the relay UE and the remote UE.

Optionally, the remote UE may establish a connection between the remoteUE and the relay UE through a Bluetooth interface.

Optionally, the relay UE may further obtain a device type of the remoteUE. For example, the remote UE may actively report its own device typeto the relay UE in a process of establishing a connection to the relayUE. Optionally, the remote UE may further report, to the relay UE, apermanent identifier of the remote UE, for example, a MAC address or aservice type indication.

Certainly, the remote UE may alternatively establish a connection to therelay UE in another access manner. A manner of establishing a connectionbetween the relay UE and the remote UE and a manner of obtaining thedevice type are not limited in this embodiment of the presentapplication.

202. The relay UE assigns a temporary identifier to the remote UE.

Optionally, the relay UE assigns an IPv6 interface ID to the remote UE,and uses the IPv6 interface ID as the temporary identifier of the remoteUE.

Optionally, the relay UE may alternatively use a port number as thetemporary identifier of the remote UE.

Optionally, if the relay UE receives the permanent identifier such asthe MAC address of the remote UE that is sent by the remote UE, therelay UE may alternatively use the permanent identifier as the temporaryidentifier of the remote UE.

203. The relay UE sends a protocol data unit (PDU) session requestmessage to an AGF or a RAN, where the PDU session request messagecarries the temporary identifier of the remote UE.

Specifically, the relay UE may determine, based on at least one of thedevice type of the remote UE or the service type indication sent by theremote UE, whether an existing PDU session can serve the remote UE. Ifthe existing PDU session cannot serve the remote UE, the relay UEinitiates a new PDU session establishment request message. If theexisting PDU session can serve the remote UE, the relay UE selects asuitable PDU session based on at least one of the device type of theremote UE or the service type sent by the remote UE, and sends a PDUsession update request message. The PDU session update request messageincludes parameters such as a PDU session identifier and a data networkname (DNN) identifier. The DNN identifier is determined by the devicetype of the remote UE or a type of a service requested by the remote UE.

Using a PDU session update request message as an example, the relay UEsends a PDU session update request message to the AGF, where the PDUsession update request message includes a PDU session identifier, forexample, at least one of a temporary identifier of the relay UE, a MACaddress of the relay UE, or an international mobile subscriber identity(IMSI) of the relay UE. In addition, the message further includes thetemporary identifier that is assigned by the relay UE to the remote UE.Optionally, the PDU session update request message may further carry thedevice type of the remote UE, a circuit identifier (CID) of the remoteUE, and an association identifier of the remote user equipment. The CIDis used to identify access circuit information of the remote userequipment, such as a frame, a slot, and a port. The associationidentifier of the remote user equipment is used to associate a pluralityof different identifiers of the remote user equipment, and indicatesthat the plurality of different identifiers of the remote user equipmentrefer to same remote user equipment.

204. The AGF forwards the received PDU session request message to an AMFthrough an N2 interface.

205. The AMF forwards the received PDU session request message to an SMFthrough an N11 interface.

206. The SMF or an AUSF performs authentication on the remote userequipment.

It should be noted that this step is optional.

Specifically, the SMF performs authentication on the remote userequipment based on at least one of the temporary identifier of theremote user equipment, the circuit identifier of the remote userequipment, the device type of the remote device, or the associationidentifier of the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the SMF may first obtain service-related policy informationfrom a policy control function (PCF), and match at least one of thetemporary identifier of the remote device, the circuit identifier of theremote device, the device type of the remote user equipment, or theassociation identifier of the remote user equipment based on the policyinformation. When the match succeeds, the authentication succeeds.

Optionally, the SMF may send at least one of the temporary identifier ofthe remote device, the circuit identifier of the remote device, thedevice type of the remote user equipment, or the association identifierof the remote user equipment to the authentication function entity(AUSF) for authentication. After the authentication succeeds, the SMFreceives an authentication success indication sent by the AUSF.

207. The SMF delivers a policy to a UPF based on the temporaryidentifier of the remote UE or based on the temporary identifier of theremote UE and a device type of the remote UE.

Specifically, the SMF first generates a related policy for the remoteuser equipment based on the temporary identifier of the remote UE orbased on the temporary identifier of the remote UE and the device typeof the remote UE, and sends the related policy to the UPF through an N4interface. The related policy may be a data flow detection rule (PDR) ora packet forwarding rule (FAR). Optionally, the related policy may bealternatively a usage reporting rule (URR), a QoS enforcement rule(QER), or a buffering action rule (BAR).

Further, the data flow detection policy further includes the temporaryidentifier of the remote user equipment.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the IPv6interface ID, the PDR policy includes the IPv6 interface ID. The UPF maymatch the IPv6 interface ID with a source or destination IP address inan IP header of a received packet, to identify packets sent by differentremote UEs.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the portnumber, the PDR policy includes the port number. The UPF may match theport number with a port number in a transport layer of a receivedpacket, to identify packets sent by different remote UEs.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the MACaddress of the remote UE, the PDR policy includes the MAC address. TheUPF may match the MAC address identifier with an L2 MAC address in areceived packet, to identify packets sent by different remote UEs.

Optionally, the SMF may further assign a new IP address to the remoteUE, and send the new IP address to the UPF by using the FAR policy.Alternatively, the SMF instructs the UPF to assign a new IP address tothe remote UE.

If the FAR policy includes the new IP address, for downlink data sent tothe remote user equipment, the UPF replaces a destination IP addresswith a source IP address corresponding to the PDU session, and detectswhether a destination port number is the temporary identifier of theremote UE. If the destination port number is not the temporaryidentifier of the remote UE, the destination port number is updated tothe temporary identifier of the remote UE.

If the UPF receives an instruction that is sent by the SMF and that isused to instruct the UPF to assign the new IP address that is to beassigned by the UPF to the remote UE as instructed by the SMF, the UPFassigns the new IP address to the remote user equipment. For uplink datasent by the remote user equipment, the UPF replaces a source IP addressof the remote UE with the new IP address. For the downlink data sent tothe remote user equipment, the UPF replaces a destination IP addresswith the source IP address corresponding to the PDU session, and detectswhether the destination port number is the temporary identifier of theremote UE. If the destination port number is not the temporaryidentifier of the remote UE, the destination port number is updated tothe temporary identifier of the remote UE.

208 to 210. The SMF sends a PDU session response message to the AMF, andthe AMF forwards the PDU session response message to the relay UE byusing the AGF.

Specifically, the session response message may include a session updatesuccess indication.

Optionally, the SMF further sends session information (SM information)to the AGF or the RAN by using the AMF. The session information includesa QoS file, a PDU session identifier parameter, a tunnel identifier(TID) of the UPF, and the like. After receiving the session information,the AGF or the RAN parses the session information, and obtains andstores the tunnel identifier of the UPF.

211 and 212. The AGF or the RAN assigns a tunnel identifier to itselfand sends the tunnel identifier to the AMF, the AMF sends the tunnelidentifier of the AGF or the RAN to the SMF through the N11 interface,and the SMF notifies the UPF of the tunnel identifier of the AGF or theRAN through an N4 interface.

In this case, the UPF also obtains the related tunnel identifier of theRAN. The UPF stores the tunnel identifier, and establishes a PDUconnection between the UPF and the RAN based on the tunnel identifier.

213. The remote UE sends a packet to the relay UE. For example, theremote UE transfers the packet to the relay UE through a Bluetoothinterface.

214. The relay UE encapsulates the temporary identifier of the remote UEfor the packet uploaded by the remote UE.

Specifically, if the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the IPv6interface ID, the relay UE sets a source IP prefix in the packet to anIPv6 prefix corresponding to the relay UE and sets an IPv6 interface IDto the IPv6 interface ID corresponding to the remote UE.

Optionally, if the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the portnumber, the relay-UE sets a source IP address of the packet to an IPaddress corresponding to the relay UE and sets the port number in thetransport layer to the port number corresponding to the remote UE.

215. The relay UE sends the encapsulated packet to the UPF through an N3interface.

216. After receiving the packet sent by the relay UE, the UPF identifiesthe packet of the remote UE based on the PDR policy and on the temporaryidentifier of the remote UE in the packet.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the IPv6interface ID, the PDR policy includes the IPv6 interface ID. The UPF maymatch a source or destination IP address in an IP header of a receivedpacket based on the IPv6 interface ID, to identify packets sent bydifferent remote UEs.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the portnumber, the PDR policy includes the port number. The UPF may match aport number in a transport layer of a received packet based on the portnumber, to identify packets sent by different remote UEs.

Optionally, when the temporary identifier of the remote UE is the MACaddress of the remote UE, the PDR policy includes the MAC address. TheUPF may match the MAC address identifier based on an L2 MAC address in areceived packet, to identify packets sent by different remote UEs.

Optionally, the UPF may further perform related processing on the packetbased on a related policy that is received in advance and thatcorresponds to the remote UE, for example, perform correspondingprocessing on the packet based on the QER, URR or BAR policy.

217. The UPF collects statistics about charging information of theremote user equipment, and reports the charging information to the SMF,and the SMF performs policy adjustment for the remote user equipmentbased on the charging information.

In this embodiment, the remote UE may access a core network by using therelay UE, and the remote UE may be identified on the network side basedon the temporary identifier assigned by the relay UE to the remote UE.In addition, the network side may configure different QoS managementmechanisms, define different charging information reporting policies,and the like based on the device type of the remote UE or the servicetype of the remote UE. The UPF may perform corresponding policy controlon an identified data flow of the remote UE. In this way, a 5G corenetwork implements identification, management, and control on the remoteuser equipment.

A second embodiment of this application is described below. In thisembodiment, a protocol layer needs to be added between a relay UE and aUPF. As shown in FIG. 3, a remote UE ID protocol layer is added betweenexisting protocol layers. A remote UE ID is carried by using theprotocol layer, so that the UPF can identify a packet of a remote userequipment based on the remote UE ID. This ensures that the remote userequipment can communicate with the UPF.

In this embodiment, an identifier of the remote user equipment is sentto a network side by using a control plane. FIG. 4 is a signalinginteraction diagram according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, amethod for identifying and controlling a remote user equipment on anetwork side in this embodiment includes the following steps:

401. A relay UE detects that a remote UE gets online, and establishes aconnection between the relay UE and the remote UE.

For specific implementation of this step, refer to step 201. Details arenot repeated herein again.

402. The relay UE assigns a temporary identifier to the remote UE.

Optionally, the temporary identifier may be a logical identifier. Forexample, a numerical value in an Int format is defined as the temporaryidentifier of the device, or an identifier in a character string formatis defined as the temporary identifier of the device.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the logical identifier maybe implemented in a plurality of forms. No limitation is imposed herein.

For specific implementation of steps 403 to 413, refer to steps 203 to213. Details are not repeated herein again.

In this embodiment, the temporary identifier of the remote UE is alogical identifier, and cannot be directly identified by a UPF.Therefore, a protocol layer needs to be added between the relay UE andthe UPF, to facilitate communication between the relay UE and the UPF.

A third embodiment of this application is described below. In thisembodiment, a protocol layer needs to be added between a relay UE and aUPF. As shown in FIG. 3, a remote UE ID protocol layer is added betweenexisting protocol layers. A remote UE ID is carried by using theprotocol layer, so that the UPF can identify a packet of a remote userequipment based on the remote UE ID. This ensures that the remote userequipment can communicate with the UPF.

In addition, in this embodiment, an identifier of the remote userequipment is sent to a network side by using a user plane. As shown inFIG. 5, a method for identifying and controlling a remote user equipmenton a network side in this embodiment includes the following steps:

501 to 503. The relay UE initiates a PDU session establishment requestto an AGF or a RAN, and the AGF or the RAN forwards the PDU sessionestablishment request to an SMF by using an AMF.

504. The SMF sends an N4 interface message to the UPF, where the N4interface message includes an initial packet detection policy.

Specifically, the SMF delivers a PDR policy to the UPF, where the PDRpolicy includes a wildcard character of the remote UE ID. The PDR policyis used to instruct the UPF to forward a packet or packet headerinformation that matches the wildcard character to the SMF.

505 to 507. A network side completes a PDU session establishmentprocedure.

508. The relay UE establishes a connection to the remote UE, andreceives a packet uploaded by the remote UE.

509. The relay UE assigns a temporary identifier remote UE ID to theremote UE.

For details, refer to step 402.

510. The relay UE encapsulates the assigned temporary identifier into apacket header, and forwards the packet to the UPF.

Optionally, the temporary identifier may be carried by a parameter ofthe interface message, or may be carried in a user plane packet includedin the message.

Optionally, the relay UE may further encapsulate a device type of theremote UE into the packet header and send the packet to the UPF.

511. The UPF discovers, based on the initial packet detection policy, aninitial packet sent by the remote UE. To be specific, the UPF determinesthat the remote UE ID carried in the packet header can match only awildcard character.

512. The UPF forwards the packet to the SMF based on a corresponding FARpolicy, or the UPF obtains the remote UE ID in the packet header and adevice type of the remote UE in the packet header, and sends the remoteUE ID and the device type to the SMF.

513. The SMF obtains the remote UE ID and the device type of the remoteUE, and generates and delivers a policy corresponding to the remote userequipment.

Subsequently, after receiving a packet of the remote user equipment thatis forwarded by the relay UE, the UPF can perform corresponding policyprocessing on the received packet based on the policy corresponding tothe remote user equipment. For details, refer to FIG. 2.

The steps and functions related to the SMF and the UPF in the foregoingmethod embodiments can be respectively performed by the sessionmanagement device (or the SMF) and the user plane function device (orthe UPF) in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.

In this embodiment, the user plane function device sends identificationinformation of the remote user and the device type or service type ofthe remote user to the network side. The network side may configuredifferent QoS management mechanisms, define different charginginformation reporting policies, and the like based on the device type orservice type of the remote UE. The UPF may perform corresponding policycontrol on an identified data flow of the remote UE. In this way, a 5Gcore network implements identification, management, and control on theremote user equipment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a network side device 600 foridentifying and controlling a remote user equipment according to anembodiment of this application. The network side device 600 may include:a plurality of ingress ports 610 and/or a receiver unit (Rx) 620,configured to receive data; a logical unit or processor 630, configuredto process a signal; a plurality of egress ports 640 and/or atransmitter unit (Tx) 650, configured to send data to another component;and a memory 660. The network side device 600 may be applicable toimplementation of any one of the foregoing disclosed features, methods,and devices. For example, the network side device 600 may be applicableto implementation of the session management device, the user planefunction device, and the foregoing method for identifying andcontrolling a remote user equipment.

The logical unit 630 (which may be referred to as a central processingunit (CPU)) may communicate with the ingress ports 610, the receiverunit 620, the egress ports 640, the transmitter unit 650, and the memory660. The logical unit 630 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips, acore (for example, a multi-core processor), a field programmable gatearray (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/ora digital signal processor (DSP), and/or may be a part of one or moreASICs.

The memory 660 includes one or more disks, tape drives, optical drives,or solid-state drives; may be used for non-volatile storage of data andused as an overflow data storage device; may be configured to store aprogram when the program is selected for execution; and may beconfigured to store an instruction and data that are read during programexecution. The memory 660 may be volatile and/or non-volatile, and maybe a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a ternarycontent-addressable memory (TCAM), a static random access memory (SRAM),another suitable memory type, or any combination thereof.

Specifically, when the network side device is configured to implementthe foregoing session management device, an executable program stored inthe memory 660 includes the following readable instructions:

an instruction used to enable the processor to generate, based on anidentifier of a remote user equipment, a policy related to the remoteuser equipment, where the policy includes the identifier of the remoteuser; and

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to send thepolicy to a user plane function, where the instruction is used by theUPF to perform service control on the remote user equipment.

The readable instructions further include:

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive asession request message or a registration request message from a relayuser equipment, where the session request message or the registrationrequest message includes the identifier of the remote user equipment; or

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive aninterface message from the UPF, where the interface message includes theidentifier of the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the readable instructions further include anotherinstruction used to enable the session management device to perform theforegoing method embodiments, for example, an instruction used to enablethe session management device to perform functions of generating apolicy, delivering a policy, managing a policy, and the like.

Specifically, when the network side device is configured to implementthe foregoing user plane function device, an executable program storedin the memory 660 includes the following readable instructions:

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive apolicy that is related to the remote user equipment and that is sent bythe session management device, where the policy includes the identifierof the remote user equipment;

an instruction used to enable the transceiver interface to receive apacket from the remote user equipment, where the packet includes adevice identifier of the remote user equipment; and

an instruction used to enable the processor to perform, based on thepolicy, service control on the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

The policy includes a packet probing parameter. The packet probingparameter includes the identifier of the remote user equipment. Thepacket probing parameter is used to match a user plane packet that isfrom the remote user equipment. The readable instructions furtherinclude:

an instruction used to enable the processor to identify, based on thepacket probing parameter and on the device identifier of the remote userequipment in the packet, the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the readable instructions further include anotherinstruction used to enable the user plane function device to perform theforegoing method embodiments, for example, an instruction used to enablethe user plane function device to perform functions of packetidentification, policy control, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment 700according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 7, theuser equipment 700 includes: a plurality of ingress ports 710 and/or areceiver unit (Rx) 720, configured to receive data; a logical unit orprocessor 730, configured to process a signal; a plurality of egressports 740 and/or a transmitter unit (Tx) 750, configured to send data toanother component; and a memory 760.

Specifically, the logical unit 730 may be implemented as one or more CPUchips, a core (for example, a multi-core processor), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), and/or a digital signal processor (DSP), and/or may be apart of one or more ASICs.

The memory 760 includes one or more disks, tape drives, optical drives,or solid-state drives; may be used for non-volatile storage of data andused as an overflow data storage device; may be configured to store aprogram when the program is selected for execution; and may beconfigured to store an instruction and data that are read during programexecution. The memory 760 may be volatile and/or non-volatile, and maybe a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a ternarycontent-addressable memory (TCAM), a static random access memory (SRAM),another suitable memory type, or any combination thereof.

Specifically, the receiver unit 720 is configured to receive a networkaccess request from a remote user equipment.

The logical unit 730 is configured to assign an identifier to the remoteuser equipment.

The transmitter unit 750 is further configured to report, to a networkside device, the identifier assigned by the processor to the remote userequipment, where the identifier of the remote user equipment is used bythe network side device to perform service control on the remote userequipment.

Optionally, the transmitter unit 750 sends a session message or aregistration message to the network side device, where the sessionmessage or the registration message includes the identifier of theremote user equipment.

The receiver unit 720 further receives a packet sent by the remote userequipment. After the logical unit 730 encapsulates the identifier of theremote user equipment into the packet, the transmitter unit 750 sendsthe packet in which the identifier of the remote user equipment isencapsulated to the network side device for processing.

As shown in FIG. 8, a session management device is provided, including areceiving unit 801, a processing unit 802, and a sending unit 803. Thereceiving unit 801 is configured to receive an identifier of a remoteuser equipment. The processing unit 802 is configured to generate, basedon the identifier of the remote user equipment, a policy related to theremote user equipment, where the policy includes the identifier of theremote user equipment. The sending unit 803 is configured to deliver thepolicy generated by the processing unit to a user plane function device,so that the user plane function device performs service control on theremote user equipment based on the policy.

The receiving unit 801 is further configured to: receive a sessionmessage or a registration message from a relay user equipment, where thesession message or the registration message includes the identifier ofthe remote user equipment; or receive an interface message from the UPF,where the interface message includes the identifier of the remote userequipment.

The receiving unit 801 is further configured to receive at least one ofa circuit identifier of the remote user equipment, a device type of theremote user equipment, and an association identifier of the remote userequipment. Specifically, the receiving unit 801 receives a sessionmessage or a registration message sent by the relay user equipment,where the session message or the registration message includes at leastone of the association identifier of the remote user equipment, thecircuit identifier, and the device type; or receives a session messagesent by a mobility management function (e.g., an AMF), where the sessionmessage includes at least one of the association identifier of theremote user equipment, the circuit identifier, and the device type; orreceives an interface message sent by the UPF, where the interfacemessage includes at least one of the association identifier of theremote user equipment, the circuit identifier, and the device type.

The processing unit 802 is further configured to generate, based on theidentifier of the remote user equipment and at least one of theassociation identifier of the remote user equipment, the circuitidentifier, and the device type, the policy related to the remote userequipment. The policy further includes at least one of the following: anIP address of the remote user equipment, used to instruct the UPF toreplace the identifier of the remote user equipment in a matched packetwith the IP address of the remote user equipment; a user packet headerupdate instruction, used to instruct the UPF to delete a specific packetheader from and/or add a specific packet header to the matched packet;and a user equipment IP address assignment instruction, used to instructthe UPF to assign an IP address to the remote user equipment and replacethe identifier of the remote user equipment in the matched packet withthe IP address of the remote user equipment that is assigned by the UPF.

All related content of the steps related in the foregoing methodembodiments can be used for functional descriptions of the correspondingfunctional modules. Details are not repeated herein again.

As shown in FIG. 9, a user plane function device is provided, includinga receiving unit 901 and a processing unit 902. The receiving unit 901is configured to receive a policy that is related to remote userequipment and that is sent by a session management device, and isfurther configured to receive a packet from the remote user equipment.The processing unit 902 is configured to perform, based on the policy,policy control on the packet from the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the user plane function device further includes a sendingunit 903, configured to send an identifier of the remote user equipmentto the session management device.

Specifically, the policy includes a packet probing parameter, where thepacket probing parameter includes the identifier of the remote userequipment. The processing unit 902 is further configured to identify,based on the packet probing parameter and on the device identifier ofthe remote user equipment in the packet, the packet sent by the remoteuser equipment.

Optionally, the identifier of the remote user equipment is an IPv6interface identifier (IPv6 interface ID), and the packet probingparameter includes the IPv6 interface ID. The processing unit 902matches the IPv6 interface ID in the packet probing parameter with asource IP address in an IP header of the packet, to identify the packetsent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the packet probing parameter includes the port number. Theprocessing unit 902 matches the port number in the packet probingparameter with a port number in a transport layer of the packet, toidentify the packet sent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the identifier of the remote user equipment is a MACaddress, and the packet probing parameter includes the MAC address. Theprocessing unit 902 matches the MAC address in the packet probingparameter with an L2 MAC address in the packet, to identify the packetsent by the remote user equipment.

Optionally, the policy further includes an IP address of the remote userequipment, used to instruct the UPF to replace the identifier of theremote user equipment in a matched packet with the IP address of theremote user equipment. The processing unit 902 is further configured toreplace the identifier of the remote user equipment in the packet withthe IP address of the remote user equipment in the policy.

Optionally, the policy further includes: a user equipment IP addressassignment instruction, used to instruct the UPF to assign an IP addressto the remote user equipment. The processing unit 902 is furtherconfigured to assign the IP address to the remote user equipment, andreplace the identifier of the remote user equipment in the packet withthe IP address assigned by the UPF to the remote user equipment.

All related content of the steps related in the foregoing methodembodiments can be used for functional descriptions of the correspondingfunctional modules. Details are not repeated herein again.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combinationwith examples described in embodiments disclosed in this specification,units and algorithm steps may be implemented by electronic hardware,computer software, or a combination thereof. To clearly describe theinterchangeability between the hardware and the software, the foregoinghas generally described compositions and steps of each example based onfunctions. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or softwaredepends on particular applications and design constraint conditions ofrespective technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may usedifferent methods to implement the described functions for eachparticular application, but it should not be considered that theimplementation goes beyond the scope of this application.

It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forthe purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed workingprocess of the foregoing system, apparatus, and unit, reference may bemade to a corresponding process in a foregoing method embodiment, anddetails are not repeated herein again.

It should be understood that systems, apparatuses, and methods inaccordance with the present application may be implemented in mannersother than the manners described herein. For example, the describedapparatus embodiment is merely an example. For example, the unitdivision is merely logical function division and may be other divisionin actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units orcomponents may be combined or integrated into another system, or somefeatures may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed ordiscussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communicationconnections may be implemented through some interfaces, indirectcouplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units,or electrical connections, mechanical connections, or connections inother forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actualrequirements to achieve objectives of solutions of embodiments of thisapplication.

In addition, functional units in embodiments of this application may beintegrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may existalone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. Theintegrated unit may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may beimplemented in a form of a software functional unit.

When the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a softwarefunctional unit and sold or used as an independent product, theintegrated unit may be stored in a computer readable storage medium.Based on such an understanding, technical solutions of this applicationmay be implemented in the form of a software product. The computersoftware product is stored in a storage medium and includes instructionsused to instruct a computer device (which may be a personal computer, aserver, a network device, or the like) to perform all or some of thesteps of methods described in embodiments of this application. Theforegoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store programcode, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive, a removable harddisk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magneticdisk, or an optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely exemplary implementations of thisapplication, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of thisapplication. Any modification or replacement readily figured out by aperson skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in thisapplication may fall within the protection scope of this application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying and controlling a remoteuser equipment, comprising: receiving, by a session management device,an interface message from a user plane function device, wherein theinterface message comprises a Media Access Control (MAC) address of theremote user equipment, and wherein the remote user equipment isconnected to a core network via a relay user equipment; generating, bythe session management device, based on the MAC address of the remoteuser equipment, a policy for performing service control on packets fromthe remote user equipment, wherein the policy comprises a packet probingparameter for identification of packets from the remote user equipment,a user packet header update instruction, and a user equipment IP addressassignment instruction, wherein the packet probing parameter comprisesthe MAC address, wherein the MAC address in the packet probing parameteris for matching the MAC address in a packet from the remote userequipment received via the relay user equipment; instructing, by thesession management device, via the user packet header update instructionof the policy, the user plane function device to remove a specificpacket header from a matched packet and/or insert a specific packetheader into a matched packet; and instructing, by the session managementdevice, via the user equipment IP address assignment instruction of thepolicy, the user plane function device to assign an IP address to theremote user equipment.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein thespecific packet header removed from a matched packet and/or the specificpacket header inserted into a matched packet comprises at least one ofthe following headers: an Ethernet header, a Point-to-Point Protocolover Ethernet (PPPoE) header, a user datagram protocol (UDP) header, anInternet Protocol (IP) header, or a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)header.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the remote userequipment does not support a subscriber identification module (SIM) cardof an operator of the core network.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the IP address is to be used by the remote user equipment toreplace the MAC address of the remote user equipment in a matched packetwith the IP address.
 5. A session management device, comprising: atleast one processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, whereinthe at least one processor is configured to execute theprocessor-executable instructions to facilitate: receiving an interfacemessage from a user plane function device, wherein the interface messagecomprises a Media Access Control (MAC) address of a remote userequipment, and wherein the remote user equipment is connected to a corenetwork via a relay user equipment; generating, based on the MAC addressof the remote user equipment, a policy for performing service control onpackets from the remote user equipment, wherein the policy comprises apacket probing parameter for identification of packets from the remoteuser equipment a user packet header update instruction, and a userequipment IP address assignment instruction, wherein the packet probingparameter comprises the MAC address, wherein the MAC address in thepacket probing parameter is for matching the MAC address in a packetfrom the remote user equipment received via the relay user equipment;instructing, by the session management device, via the user packetheader update instruction of the policy, the user plane function deviceto remove a specific packet header from a matched packet and/or insert aspecific packet header into a matched packet; and instructing, by thesession management device, via the user equipment IP address assignmentinstruction of the policy, the user plane function device to assign anIP address to the remote user equipment.
 6. The session managementdevice according to claim 5, wherein the specific packet header removedfrom a matched packet and/or the specific packet header inserted into amatched packet comprises at least one of the following headers: anEthernet header, a Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) header,a user datagram protocol (UDP) header, an Internet Protocol (IP) header,or a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) header.
 7. The sessionmanagement device according to claim 5, wherein the remote userequipment does not support a subscriber identification module (SIM) cardof an operator of the core network.
 8. The session management deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the IP address is to be used by the remoteuser equipment to replace the MAC address of the remote user equipmentin a matched packet with the IP address.
 9. A method for identifying andcontrolling a remote user equipment, comprising: sending, by a userplane function device, an interface message to a session managementdevice, wherein the interface message comprises a Media Access Control(MAC) address of the remote user equipment, wherein the remote userequipment is connected to a core network via a relay user equipment;receiving, by the user plane function device, a policy from the sessionmanagement device, wherein the policy comprises a packet probingparameter for identification of packets from the remote user equipment,a user packet header update instruction and a user equipment IP addressassignment instruction, wherein the packet probing parameter comprisesthe MAC address; receiving, by the user plane function device, a packetfrom the remote user equipment via the relay user equipment, wherein thepacket comprises the MAC address; matching, by the user plane functiondevice, the MAC address in the packet with the MAC address in the packetprobing parameter to identify the packet from the remote user equipment;in response to the matching, performing, by the user plane functiondevice, based on the policy, removal of a specific packet header fromthe packet and/or insertion of a specific packet header into the packet;and replacing, by the user plane function device, based on the policy,the MAC address in the packet with an IP address assigned by the userplane function device.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein thespecific packet header removed from the packet and/or the specificpacket header inserted into the packet comprises at least one of thefollowing headers: an Ethernet header, a Point-to-Point Protocol overEthernet (PPPoE) header, a user datagram protocol (UDP) header, anInternet Protocol (IP) header, or a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)header.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the remote userequipment does not support a subscriber identification module (SIM) cardof an operator of the core network.
 12. A user plane function device,comprising: at least one processor, and a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having processor-executableinstructions stored thereon, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to execute the processor-executable instructions tofacilitate: sending an interface message to a session management device,wherein the interface message comprises a Media Access Control (MAC)address of a remote user equipment, and wherein the remote userequipment is connected to a core network via a relay user equipment;receiving a policy from the session management device, wherein thepolicy comprises a packet probing parameter for identification ofpackets from the remote user equipment a user packet header updateinstruction and a user equipment IP address assignment instruction,wherein the packet probing parameter comprises the MAC address;receiving a packet from the remote user equipment via the relay userequipment, wherein the packet comprises the MAC address; matching theMAC address in the packet with the MAC address in the packet probingparameter to identify the packet from the remote user equipment; inresponse to the matching, performing, based on the policy, removal of aspecific packet header from the packet and/or insertion of a specificpacket header into the packet; and replacing, by the user plane functiondevice, based on the policy, the MAC address in the packet with an IPaddress assigned by the user plane function device.
 13. The user planefunction device according to claim 12, wherein the specific packetheader removed from the packet and/or the specific packet headerinserted into the packet comprises at least one of the followingheaders: an Ethernet header, a Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet(PPPoE) header, a user datagram protocol (UDP) header, an InternetProtocol (IP) header, or a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) header.14. The user plane function device according to claim 12, wherein theremote user equipment does not support a subscriber identificationmodule (SIM) card of an operator of the core network.
 15. A user planefunction device, comprising: at least one processor, and anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingprocessor-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the at leastone processor is configured to execute the processor-executableinstructions to facilitate: sending an interface message to a sessionmanagement device, wherein the interface message comprises a MediaAccess Control (MAC) address of a remote user equipment, and wherein theremote user equipment is connected to a core network via a relay userequipment; receiving a policy from the session management device,wherein the policy comprises a packet probing parameter foridentification of packets from the remote user equipment, a user packetheader update instruction and an IP address assigned by the sessionmanagement device, wherein the packet probing parameter comprises theMAC address; receiving a packet from the remote user equipment via therelay user equipment, wherein the packet comprises the MAC address;matching the MAC address in the packet with the MAC address in thepacket probing parameter to identify the packet from the remote userequipment; in response to the matching, performing, based on the policy,removal of a specific packet header from the packet and/or insertion ofa specific packet header into the packet; and replacing, by the userplane function device, based on the policy, the MAC address in thepacket with the IP address assigned by the session management device.